Alfred p



A.'F. McCOLLUM.-

PRESSER FOOT.

APPLICATIUN FILED JUNE 28 |918.

Patented Dec. 16,1919.A

Ururnn sra'rns PATENT OFFICE.

A ALFRED F. IVICCOLLUM, 0F BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, SSIGrNOR OFTHREE-FIFTHS TO JAMESMAGEE, 2D, OF BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.-

PRESSER-FOOT.

Spcccation of Letters Patent.

Application med June 2s, 1918. serai No.y 242,473.

device for supportinglthe needle o'f a sewing machine against bending inthe line of'm'ovement of the material operated ou with a view topreventing breakage of said needle p and the production of imperfectwork by the machine.

. It is further desired to provide a novel means forpreventing the upperthread of a sewing machine from cutting in to or b1`n`ding upon the sideof the opening in the presser foot through which 1t passes and with thisidea in view Imount on the. presser foot a roller or pulley which atcertain times isengaged by the upper threadr and at other times iscalled upon to support the needle.

Another objecty of the invention is-to provide a presser foot offnovelconstruction which shall be Vcapable of not only supportingy the needleagainst lateral 4movement but Y which shall also insure the threadleading from said presser foot to the material operated on, in a line atall times bearing. substantially the saine angular relation to the lineof movement of the needle.

lThese objects and other advantageous ends I secure as' hereinaftersetforth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figures l and 2 are side elevations, the

y latter partly insection, illustratingv a'presser.

foot and its associated parts constructed in accordance with myinvention; Y

Fig. 3 is a front elevation also partly in vertical section furtherillustrating. the parts v shown in Fig. 2;

Y Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken through the lower part of thepresser foot transversely to the roller-supporting spindle;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section on the line 5 5, Fig. V4; andFig. 6v is a plan of the thread plate. .y y.lnthe above drawings, llrepresents the top plate, 2 the upper feeding foot, and 3 the presserfot of a sewing ;m'ac'hr'ine; the latterV being detachably mounted V'on'a vertically reciproca'ble bar 4. The feeding foot 2, as is customary incertain sewing machines, has its lower'end 5 i is provided, on its'under face, withia series of backwardly pointing teeth 6. This foot'Patented Dec. 16, y1919.V

forw ardly eXten'ded andVV is connected to me'chan'ismforming no 'partrof the present invention whereby' after Y being moved down intolengagement with lthebo'dy at of the fabricor other materiahitisni'vedrearwardly' forwardly and again lowered into engagement with saidmaterial- Itsv forwardly eX- tended portion', is longitudinally slottedto permit of the passage through it of the presser foot 3 and 'its'teeth are preferably formed on but one side asv indicated in Fig'. 3.

The presser foot 3 is of the ordinary' construction eXcept that in itsforwardly eX'- tendedlowe'r end 7 itis provided With an enlarged opening8 in which 'a roller or grooved pulley 9 is rotatably supported upon ashort spindle 10 eXtendingtrans# versely of theV presser foot. This'roller or pulley isY so mounted relatively to the needle ll that the'llatter will'be'arA upon' land turny it when under operatingConditionsthematerial operated on is pres's'ed'or fed toward the rear"of the machine, and Vit is to be noted that when the needle is' raised,the thread x1 leading therefrom into' the material fc likewise passesaround" saidV rollerV which is so placed in the presser foot" that itdoes not project below the plane 'of the under surface of the latter.

The top plate l of the machine is also slotted from front to rear toprovide an opening 'l2 in which isv mounted a second roller 18 carriedupon a spindle 19 parallel with the'spindle 10 of the roller 9 andimmediately under the same so that is engaged by 'and 'supports thelower end of the needle against rearward bending afterV it has' passedthroughV the materialm.

While the above described parts may' be used with advantage on anyrformsof sewing machines, they are particularly valuable 'i'n connectionV withthose of the class described and claimed in my Patent No.

, and after' being raised, is moved' 1,257,900, dated February 26, 1918,in which the material operated on is relatively heavy carpet or rugfabric and is supported on an inclined series of rollers so that it isfed past the sewing machine by gravity.

Immediately before the parts occupy the positions shown in Fig. 1 theneedle 11 is moved to the upper position illustrated and the subsequentrearward movement of the material a: over the plate 1 under the actionof the feeding foot 2 causes -the thread w1 to be drawn around theroller 9 and led rearwardly therefrom to the last stitch formed, thefeeding foot holding the fabric from further movement at the completionof its rearward stroke until the presser foot 3 has been loweredY intothe position shown in F ig. 2 whereupon said feeding foot is raised andmoved forwardly as shown. In the meantime the needle 11 is lowered andby reason of the tendency of the material m to move to the rear, isforced back the short distance necessary to brin it into bearingengagement first with the roller 9 and then with the roller 18, whichvery eifectually prevent its bending and breakage.

In thus moving down said needle causes turning of these two rollers inone direction and after it is raised in returning to its originalposition said needle again turns the rollers but in a reverseddirection. After moving above the upper roller 9, the thread m1 is drawnaround the upper roller, thereby again turning it so as to eifectuallyprevent the customary cutting into the rear "side of the opening in thepresser foot through which it passes. Not only is this wear on thepresser foot with the possible injury and interference with the movementof the thread effectually prevented, but the movement of the needle isrendered easier by reason of the supports provided by the two rollers.There is thus not only a prevention of the breakage and cutting hithertooccurring but there is a very appreciable lessening of the powerrequired to operate the machine as will be appreciated when it is notedthat the needle operates at a speed of three thousand strokes perminute.

In addition to supporting the needle against rearward bending, thelowerroller 18 also supports and guides the lower or bobbin thread in itspassage to the fabric and the groove of said roller is preferably of aV-shaped section in order that the needle may be supported by saidroller as above noted, without pressing upon the thread.

In order to insure that the bobbin thread, after being run through theslot 12 of the top plate preparatory to putting the machine inoperation, shall enter the groove of the lower roller 18 and not findits way between one or the other end of this and the adjacent side ofthe slot 12, I provide the forward end of said slot with a narrowguiding throat or recess 20 formed in its central plane. With such aconstruction the operator, in drawing the thread through the slot 12 infront of the roller, causes it to be automatically centered so that whenthe machine is put in operation it is drawn rearwardly in the centralplane of the slot and neccessarily enters the roller groove withouttending to enter either of the narrow spaces between the ends of theroller and of the slot walls.

I claim:

1. The combination of a presser foot having a needle opening therein anda roller mounted in said opening in position to support the needleagainst rearward movement while being free of the material operated onby said presser foot.

2. A presser foot consisting of two portions at right angles to eachother of which the lower or foot portion is longitudinally slotted; witha grooved roller mounted in the slot of said presser foot in position tobe alternately engaged by the needle and the thread carried thereby tosupport the same against pressure in the direction of the slot.

3. A presser foot consisting of two portions at right angles to eachother of which the lower or foot portion is longitudinally slotted; witha roller mounted m the slot of said presser foot in position to bealternately engaged by the needle and the thread carried thereby tosupport the same against pressure in the direction lof the slot, saidroller being mounted above the plane of the under side of said presserfoot.

4L. The combination of a presser foot; a roller mounted on said presserfoot in a position wholly above the plane of the under side thereof; anda reciprocating needle operative in a line substantially tangent to theroller.

5. lThe combination of a presser foot; a roller mounted thereon; a topplate; a second roller carried by said plate; and a reciprocatory needlemounted to be laterally supported by said two rollers at certainportions of its path of movement.

6. The combination of a presser foot; a 'grooved roller mounted thereonin a position above the plane of the under side of said presser foot;with a needle operative adjacent said roller and carrying a thread, saidroller being positioned to be engaged by the thread at predeterminedtimes and supporting the same out of engagement with the body of thepresser foot.

7. The combination of a presser foot having a work-engaging portionformedwith a longitudinal slot; a roller mounted in said slot above theplane of the under side of the presser foot; a top plate having a slot;a second roller mounted in the slot of said plate;

and a reciprocating needle operative in a line substantially tangent tosaid two rollers; the latter being positioned to be engaged by and toguide the needleand bobbin threads.

8. The combination in a sewing machine of a top plate having a needleslot; a presser foot also having a needle slot; and two rolltoberespeotively engaged by the needle and 10 bobbin threads.

In witness whereof I affix my signature.

ALFRED F. MCCOLLUM.

